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11 best Android keyboards for all kinds of typists
For most people, the default keyboard on your phone does everything you need. However, some folks want more customization and features or are looking for something that not everybody needs. Enter the third-party Android keyboard. These have improved dramatically over the years. However, most of the more exciting competitors in this space dropped off the map. We also lost Swype because it closed down and TouchPal over a malware scandal.
These days, most people either stick with the stock keyboard or use Gboard or SwiftKey. This space isn’t as competitive as it used to be, so the options aren’t as plentiful as they used to be. Here are the best third-party Android keyboards.
The best Android keyboards for all types of typists
1C Big Keyboard
Price: Free / $1.99 per month / $9 once
1C Big Keyboard is a little bit different. It’s an intentionally large keyboard with a bigger font for older folks and others with failing eyesight. It uses most of the screen in its default setting, but you can swipe up and give the keyboard 100% of your screen if needed. Some other features include bigger keys for fewer typos, and there are some customization options. It can be a bit slow occasionally, and we’d prefer it to have some extra optimization, at least for lower-end devices. Otherwise, it’s a good option for the older crowd.
AI.Type
Price: Free / $2.99
AI.Type has been around for a while, and it’s still an excellent keyboard. The app includes thousands of themes, emojis, and many customization options. You can even make and share your theme. In terms of usability, it boasts swipe typing, a number row, voice typing, and more. However, it’s not as good in practice as something like Gboard. The swipe doesn’t always get the word right, and it feels a bit clunkier. You do get used to it over time, but swipe typists may want something a bit more accurate.
Facemoji Emoji Keyboard
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Facemoji Emoji Keyboard focuses a little more on the customization part of keyboards than on pure functionality. It does a pretty good job of it, too. The app supports 5,000 emojis, emoticons, stickers, etc. There is also support for GIFs. Some other features include 1,500 themes, 50 fonts, a game mode for some mobile games, and more. In terms of typing, power users may be left disappointed. It has the basics, and the functionality is okay. It’s just not as good as Gboard or SwiftKey in those areas.
Big Buttons Typing Keyboard
Price: Free
As the name of the keyboard suggests, the keyboard has big buttons. This specialized keyboard offers improved visibility, typing speed, and accessibility for users with difficulties using standard keyboards. This keyboard is perfect for children and older adults. It also supports GIFs and memes. It also comes with a speech to text feature and people can also customize its themes according to their preference. However, due to it’s bigger size, it occupies more space on the screen which some people might find annoying. Also the ads can be bothersome.
Gboard
Price: Free
Gboard is Google’s official stock keyboard. It has many essential features, such as auto-correction, multi-lingual typing, and various customization features. Its claim to fame, though, is that Google Search is built-in. That means you can conduct searches without leaving the keyboard space. There is also a GIF search, voice typing, and Google Translate. Google adds features to this keyboard on a reasonably frequent basis. Thus, it isn’t quite the minimal, simple keyboard it used to be. However, it’s still decent.
Grammarly
Price: Free
Grammarly is one of the newer Android keyboards. It started as a Chrome extension and corrected your grammar as you typed. The Android keyboard version aims to do the same thing. It checks your grammar and spelling as well as punctuation. It’s newer, so it’s very much still in development. We expect more features to come with future updates. You still get a very clean-looking keyboard that helps correct grammar mistakes. We also like how it explains your corrections if you want it to so that you learn from them. The only downside is that the app has some typing bugs we wish the developers would fix since some have been around for a while. Otherwise, the app is free, and it does help when it works right.
Microsoft SwiftKey
Price: Free
SwiftKey is definitely among the best Android keyboards ever. It has top-of-the-line prediction and auto-correction, gesture typing, and cloud syncing so all your devices can stay up to date, themes, keyboard customization, a number row, and more. It also has above-average language support, with over 100 languages supported. The keyboard and its features are free, but you’ll have to pay for most themes. Microsoft purchased The keyboard a couple of years ago, but it still works as it did. The app is also completely free.
Multiling O Keyboard
Price: Free
Multiling O Keyboard is the one-stop shop if you need multiple languages. This keyboard app supports over 200 languages at the time of this writing, which is more than every Android keyboard. On top of superior language support, you’ll get gesture typing, the ability to set up a PC-style keyboard layout, keyboard resizing and repositioning, themes, emoji, various designs, and the all-important number row. It’s a powerful option for you multi-linguists out there.
OpenBoard
Price: Free
OpenBoard is an excellent keyboard for privacy fans. It’s 100% open-source and based on the AOSP keyboard. It removes Google binaries, so you don’t need any Google Play Services for this to work. In terms of functionality, it’s pretty average. You get text correction, essential themes, and support for emoji. However, you miss the extra features you usually get in Gboard. It’s free to use, and you can find the open-source code in the Google Play description.
Simple Keyboard
Price: Free
Simple Keyboard is the most minimal Android keyboard on the list. It only comes with the basics. That includes the Keyboard, a few customization settings, and a few themes. The only permission it has is vibration, and that’s for haptic feedback while typing. This is the one you want if you want a basic, bare-bones keyboard. It also has no ads, no premium version, no in-app purchases, and it’s open-source.
It requires only the bare minimum in terms of permissions as well. Just ensure you’re okay with not having the features from more modern keyboards. This one is even simpler than OpenBoard, so it’ll be up to you to figure out which one you like better.
Yandex Keyboard
Price: Free
Yandex Keyboard is a serviceable keyboard. It includes the usual modern features like tons of emojis and stickers. There is also a built-in translator for multi-lingual users, a voice input, and support for 70 languages. You also get heme builder auto-correct, and the app claims to use machine learning to learn how you type, so it gets smarter the more you use it. It seemed to tick all the boxes and worked well in our testing. However, Yandex is a Russian company, which doesn’t evoke a ton of trust from many users. We included this as the 11th option in a list of 10 because the keyboard does work very well, but if privacy is a concern, maybe skip this one.
If we missed any of the best Android keyboards, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists.
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